Macbeth

Macbeth was king of Scots from 1040 to 1057 after defeating and killing Duncan I in battle. Historical evidence suggests that he ruled for seventeen years, exercised effective kingship and was secure enough to make a pilgrimage to Rome.

He was eventually defeated by forces supporting Malcolm Canmore. Shakespeare’s murderous tyrant is a dramatic transformation of a much more complex medieval ruler whose career emerged from legitimate dynastic rivalry.